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DALLAS, Nov. 24 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Baylor Charles A. Sammons Cancer Center has become a full member of one of the largest cancer clinical trials cooperative groups in the United States. Funded by research grants from the National Cancer Institute, Southwest Oncology Group conducts clinical trials to prevent and treat cancer in adults, and to improve the quality of life for cancer survivors.

"Joining this prestigious group will allow us to offer additional, important clinical trials to cancer patients in North Texas," said Alan M. Miller, M.D., Ph.D., medical director of the Baylor Sammons Cancer Center and chief of oncology for Baylor University Medical Center. "We are honored to work with our colleagues throughout the country and world in participating in clinical trials that are making great progress in the fight against cancer."

Southwest Oncology Group has more than 5,000 affiliated physician researchers participating at 516 institutions in the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, Sweden and Saudi Arabia. The group conducts large Phase III trials, such as an ongoing prostate cancer prevention study with more than 35,000 men enrolled as well as a newly opened trial in women with breast cancer to test the effectiveness of three drugs in preventing or delaying metastasis to the bone.

Southwest Oncology Group also conducts groundbreaking Phase I and Phase II studies to test new targeted therapies and tissue studies that put to work the latest discoveries in cancer genetics.

Baylor Sammons Cancer Center's membership in the group is another step towards Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas' goal of becoming a nationally and internationally renowned cancer care destination. The hospital has been caring for cancer patients and conducting groundbreaking research at the Baylor Sammons Cancer Center for more than 30 years. More than 120 physicians on the medical staff at Baylor Dallas see patients at the center and these physicians oversee approximately 140,000 outpatient visits and 3670 inpatients hospitalizations per year.

Last fall, Baylor Dallas began building North Texas' first dedicated cancer hospital, along with a new outpatient center that will be the largest in North Texas. The outpatient cancer center will provide a full range of cancer-related services, and the inpatient cancer hospital is being built as an expansion of the Baylor Sammons Cancer Center.

Baylor Dallas has always engaged in cancer research that focuses on breakthroughs that directly affect patients, whether through a more accurate diagnosis or more effective treatment.

"Becoming a full member of Southwest Oncology Group allows us to take our research to a new level that will parallel the striking advancements we've seen in the field," said Dr. Miller.

About Baylor Dallas

Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas, a 1025-bed not-for-profit academic hospital, is a major patient care and research center in the southwest. The nationally acclaimed medical center serves as flagship hospital for Baylor Health Care System and has earned Magnet status for "Excellence in Nursing Services" from the American Nurses Credentialing Center -- the organization's highest level of recognition. In addition to its Level 1 trauma center, Baylor Dallas is also home to many nationally ranked centers of excellence including transplantation, cardiovascular services, orthopaedics, oncology services, digestive diseases, neurosciences and gynecology. In 2009, U.S. News & World Report recognized Baylor Dallas for the 17th consecutive year in its "America's Best Hospitals" guide.

Physicians are members of the medical staff at one of Baylor Health Care System's subsidiary, community or affiliated medical centers and are neither employees nor agents of those medical centers, Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas or Baylor Health Care System.

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